INSECTS. 485 
hive, the insect disgorges the honey into cells, for winter 
subsistence ; or else presents it to the labouring Bees. 
A Bee can collect, in one day, more honey than a hundred 
chymists could extract in a hundred years. 
When they begin to fill their hive, they divide into 
four parties : one is deputed to the fields to collect mate- 
rials, another ordered to work on these materials, a third 
is left to polish the rough work of the cells, and the fourth 
allotted to provide food for the labourers. There are 
waiters always attending to serve the artisan with imme- 
diate refreshment, lest he should be too long absent from 
his work, by going to gather it himself. 
So expert are the Bees, that a honeycomb, composed of a 
double range of cells backed one against another, and 
which is a foot long, and six inches broad, is completed in 
one day, so as to contain three thousand Bees. The cells 
are most curiously composed of little hexagonal sides, 
which exactly conform to the similar portions of the ad- 
joining cells. At the entrance of every cell the Bee archi- 
tect forms a ledge, which fortifies the aperture, and pre- 
vents the injuries it might receive from the frequent 
ingress and return of the Bees. 
How grateful ought we to be for the creation of this 
admirable insect ! To its toil and wisdom \ve are in- 
debted for one of the most agreeable and wholesome sub- 
stances afforded by Nature. Were it not for the Bee, 
these flowery sweets would be lost in the " desert air," or 
die with the fading flower. 
Bees produce honey, which they lay up for winter con- 
sumption; wax, of which they form their cells, and a 
substance called bee-bread, which they extract chiefly 
from the pollen of the flowers, and which they use for 
feeding their young. 
